Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) is not independent in the monitoring of gemstones in the country, an internal source in the organisation revealed during the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) in Harare yesterday.
ZELA was having a consultative meeting on commodity transparency issues relating to the mining and trade of minerals in Zimbabwe.
“Unfortunately, at the moment we do not have labs (laboratories) in Zimbabwe that are able to do the full analysis of all the elements. We have to rely on information from producers themselves. ” MMCZ Sales Executive Miriral Mutseyekwa said.
The sales executive said that MMCZ has people who who monitor the processes for elements and other required details but the marketing corporation is not independent.
Besides lacking laboratories, the MMCZ is also facing challenges in monitoring minerals due to sanctions according to the corporation’s sale executive.
The employee said due to the sanctions the corporation is unable to deal directly using US currency.
“Unfortunately, because of the issue sanctions we are unable to receive money from outside, it (money) has to go to the producers directly which is really making the accountability in terms of receipts into the country a little bit more tricky.” Mutseyekwa said.
MMCZ is supposed to hold transactions from outside the country and then forward the transacted money to producers.
MMCZ, wholly owned by the government, was established in March 1983 as an exclusive agent for marketing and selling minerals produced in Zimbabwe.
One of the functions of the organisation is to investigate or cause to be investigated mineral marketing conditions, inside or outside Zimbabwe.
